Kaggeth Downhowler

"Into the atmosphere," Captain Kaggeth commanded from the bridge of the Shatternaught. "We can't hear the devastation from high orbit."

Empty, soundless space offered no chorus to Kaggeth Downhowler, and the magnificent sprawl of heretical Prospero needed to scream! Too often had the Shatternaught loomed in the back of a fleet bombardment, casting off bombs the way a wolf flicks a fly with its tail. Fighting needed a personal touch--a flair of attachment to savor in the doldrums of peace.

His crew reduced altitude, bringing the mighty bombing ship to the same height as the drop pod carriers. Longclaw, Ragnarok, and the Wolf-Spirit already let loose their ordinance, but Kaggeth's salivating eyes scanned the city below: clean spires, dazzling gardens, crowd-packed dorms of shelter. So many untouched targets festering with Magnus' betrayal!

He gave the order.

The bombs fell, whistling a banshee chorus throughout the ashen air.

He raised a fist. "I will hear my bombs howl!"

A veteran of the Horus Heresy, Kaggeth Downhowler made a name for himself by leading bombing fleets for the Space Wolves. Battle brothers clamored to fly on his crew, for Kaggeth forsook dropping salvos from the safety of orbit. Instead, Kaggeth preferred laying waste as close as possible to his targets, savoring every carnal moment.

To disconnect from such terror was, to Kaggeth, true barbarism. To not look prey in the eyes during the kill was to lose the essence of warrior spirit, unmaking warcraft into a dull calculation of numbers, charts, and soulless strategy. His crew would hear and see the destruction they rained. As soon as ordinance was loaded into his cruiser, his troops fastened tribal fetishes and wooden whistles to the payloads so that they would whistle for miles when let loose.

Then Horus turned against the Emperor...

The rapid destruction of Astartes fleets from the civil war forced Kaggeth to broaden his retinue, the Shatternaught no longer able to serve as a simple short-range bomber. Leman Russ demanded that Kaggeth have the Shatternaught be retrofitted to haul less orbital bombardment weaponry and more ground artillery, taking advantage of Kaggeth's ability to maneuver in both orbit and atmospheric conditions.

The Shatternaught would deploy artillery to the ground assault, then blaze a spray of bombing runs to "soften the enemy a bit."

In the millennia since the Horus Heresy, the Shatternaught was passed around to several companies within the Space Wolves as needed. It wasn't until late into the 41'st millennium that Kaggeth's auxiliary heavy support cruiser helped bust open a greenskin stronghold, allowing a trapped company led by Wolflord Sigismund to ambush the ruling Warboss, sending the Nob underlings into an uncoordinated frenzy.

The Shatternaught howled a lot that day.

After three days of the Wolflord's company feasting in victorious revelry with the crew of the Shatternaught, Wolflord Sigismund pulled Kaggeth aside and made a promise. The Shatternaught would cease to be an auxiliary Space Wolf ship spanning the stars in constant search for another company to enforce. Instead, the Wolflord welcomed Kaggeth to serve along his Wolf Guard.

"In my company," the Wolflord said. "You will make the moon howl back to us!"